Commissioner to visit victim support group

Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping is to visit Imara, a child sexual abuse early intervention support service based in West Bridgford, on Wednesday (February 3) at 3.30pm to see for himself how his funding is helping to heal the lives of child victims of sexual abuse and vulnerable family members.

“Tackling violence against women has always been one of my priorities, and I know how important grants are in helping organisations like Imara provide the support that victims need,” the Commissioner said.

“The work done by Imara is designed to help children and adults with complex needs to recover from, their traumatic experiences and to cope with trials and legal issues.”.

During his visit, which coincides with Sexual Violence Awareness Week, Mr Tipping will talk to some of the 63 adults and 110 children who have benefited from the support in 2015. He will also hear more about the organisation from Executive Director and Trauma Care Worker Cath Wakeman, and those who work with her. Tamsin Baldwin, Executive Director, commented, “We are delighted to be part of Sexual Abuse and Violence Awareness Week as abuse so often remains hidden and unspoken. Our families welcome the opportunity to speak to Mr Tipping about their experience of our service.”

Imara’s Early Intervention Support service aims to improve the mental health of child victims and vulnerable family members through advocating on their behalf, supporting them within the criminal justice process and providing them with therapeutic interventions. The Commissioner’s Community Safety Fund part-funded 20% of the therapeutic work with a grant of nearly £12,000 this year.

Mr Tipping pointed out; “There is no magic wand with this type of work. It takes time and skill to help traumatised victims recover and feedback from questionnaires and testimonials continues to be predominantly positive.”

Outcomes measured on a trauma scale indicate that last year 69% of children showed an overall improvement across three different ratings. In other scores, 48% of children showed improvement in feeling heard and understood; 45% showed improvement in feeling good about themselves; 47% showed improvement in feeling safe; and 46% improvement in playing and enjoyment.

Among the adults taking part in the project, 70% showed an overall improvement across two different ratings. One vulnerable adult wrote: “I can now actually get out of bed in a morning without the dread and fear of facing the day and its usual activities like going to work. I was in complete despair with tears falling every day with no understanding of why. Now I understand that everything that I think, feel, say and do are ‘Normal’ under the circumstances. They are incredible people who do amazing work. I simply do not know where I would be without them - that doesn’t bear thinking about.”